Newsline

Softball Beats Behrend for First Time In Seven Years

ERIE, PA – For the first time since the 2005 season, Hilbert College grabbed an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference victory over Penn State Behrend in softball after their 5-4 win March 28. Junior Devan Jonathan got the win in the circle improving the Hawks to 1-1 in league play (3-6 overall). Behrend (3-1, 8-8) took the first game, 11-3, to open the double header set of games.

Hilbert found themselves down 2-0 before they exploded with four runs with two outs in the top of the fifth inning. Allison Hall, Vicki Ernst, Jill Martucci, Emily Ripley all hit singles while Natalie Whitman reached base on a short stop error to give the Hawks hopes for a come-back. Hilbert held defensively at the bottom of the inning and continued to add another run in the top of the sixth when Kateland Ball’s double got her on base. Jonathan hit what turned out to be the winning RBI to end the Hawks scoring. Hilbert blanked Behrend in the sixth inning. The visitors held on for the 5-4 win in the bottom of the seventh after surrendering two runs before ending the game.

Martucci went 2 for 4 and Ripley and Jonathan each earned the team’s RBI’s. Jonathan struck out 7 but gave up eleven hits.

The Hawks opened game one with three quick scores at the top of the first inning: Ripley singled to left field and made it home off a Halsey Baker double; Ball singled to center field and Rachel Collier was walked creating a bases loaded situation. Allison Hall reached first base on an error by the third basewoman pushing Baker home just before Ball ran to the plate. Hilbert held their lead briefly only to see it evaporate after the Lions ran the bases for five scores in the bottom of the first inning.

Behrend continue to build their lead in the bottom of the third (2 runs) and again in the bottom of the fourth with 4 runs. After Hilbert’s at bat in the top of the fifth, when they did not score additional runs, the game ended in five innings. Ripley took the loss going 3.2 innings with one strike out.

The Hawks host Penn State Altoona March 31 for their second set of AMCC games.

Hilbert College, located in suburban Hamburg, N.Y., south of Buffalo, is a private four-year college founded in 1957 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition. With nearly 1,100 students, Hilbert is a dynamic Western New York college that offers career-focused majors, including one of the top criminal justice programs in the region, and more than 50 minors and concentrations. The college’s engaging, student-centered campus community offers numerous leadership, internship, and service learning opportunities from which students launch successful careers while making positive changes in their communities. The Hilbert Blueprint promotes a well-rounded student experience over four years – starting with the Foundations Seminar in the freshman year, followed by Sophomore Service, Junior Symposium, and culminating with the Senior Capstone. Hilbert has expanded its academic offerings with the college’s first graduate programs and new Accelerated Degree Programs geared to adult learners.